Uzbekistan

The Rule of Timur

Following the death of Chinggis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided
among his three sons. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation,
Mongol law maintained orderly succession for several more generations, and
control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in the hands of direct descendants
of Chaghatai, the second son of Chinggis. Orderly succession, prosperity,
and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire
as a whole remained strong and united.

In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to break
up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also was disrupted
as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal
chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as
the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of
Chinggis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to
conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern
steppe region north of the Aral Sea. He also invaded Russia before dying
during an invasion of China in 1405.

Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his
capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had
conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very
rich culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate
descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects
were undertaken in Samarqand and other population centers. Timur also
patronized scientists and artists; his grandson Ulugh Beg was one of the
world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that
Turkish, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language
in its own right in Mawarannahr--although the Timurids also patronized
writing in Persian. Until then only Persian had been used in the region.
The greatest Chaghataid writer, Ali Shir Nava'i, was active in the city of
Herat, now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the
fifteenth century.

The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of
Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the
attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea.
In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr.